Incorporating new thinking into brand communication

Exhibit A: Why Most Attorneys Resist Advertising

Back in 1908, the American Bar Association adopted the Canons of Professional Ethics. Canon 27 banned advertising by lawyers, with the sole exception of business cards. This ruling was ostensibly enacted to protect both consumers and the legal industry’s public perception. And so, over the ensuing decades, a general concensus developed that lawyers who dared to actually advertise their services somehow demeaned the profession. Finally, in 1977, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Bates v. State Bar that the First Amendment protections of commercial free speech applied to attorney advertising.

Over the ensuing decades, years of resistance eventually succumbed to the basic needs of commerce.

All of which brings us to this case in point: a positively mind-blowing ad from Pittsburgh personal injury specialists Berger & Green. Click on this link, enlarge the clip to full screen, and then let yourself be amazed at this mind-blowing commercial that dares to imagine what would happen if Jerry Bruckheimer brought his super-charged cinematic magic to the world of plaintiff action, albeit without much of a budget.